I don't mind they're upping the age for the characters for the movie, seems that it's likely move anyway. Not a bad actress so I'm fine with this choice should she accept it. I'm very curious to see who they'll cast as Bean.

Casting on director Gavin Hood’s (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game continues to heat up, as Ben Kingsley is the latest to join the cast. Heat Vision reports that Kingsley is in talks to star in the sci-fi pic as “a legendary war hero presumed to be long dead.” The story centers on a young man who develops military strategies through war games in an attempt to prepare for an intergalactic battle. Kingsley’s Hugo co-star Asa Butterfield is set as the title character, with Hailee Steinfeld attached as the female lead. Harrison Fordis being courted to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, though no official dealmaking with the actor has taken place.

I’m not familiar with the book, but I’m told that Heat Vision’s description of Kingsley’s character sounds like Mazer Rackham, a soldier whose major previous victory is used as propaganda. While I’m still not sold on Hood, the cast being assembled continues to impress me. Production is set to get underway in February, so expect more casting announcements very soon. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the novel. Ender’s Game opens March 15th, 2013.

__________________I was at some diplomatic party once. Got to talking to this princess who told me that when it came to Superman, I was missing the point. She told me, "His real strength lay in his generous spirit and sense of what's fair." - King Faraday
"Heís much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman. Heís Everyman operating on a sciĖfi Paul Bunyan scale." - Grant Morrison

Hood will bring the film down, sad to say. The cast is looking splendid though. They have to move fast though. Asa's 14 and Hailee's 15. Once the kids get into a lot of puberty, the poignance of the story is gone, and it's just some teenage space cadets. If there's no innocence, the end of the film is irrelevant.

It sounds like Hailee will play Valentine. I liked Petra more, but Valentine is pretty awesome, and she needs someone young who can play plenty mature.

I'm willing to give Hood the benefit of the doubt, now I wasn't such a huge fan of Tsotsi and Origins was bad but he had little control over it and there was a lot of studio interference going on, as far as adaptation goes this isn't going to be a walk in the park but I'm hoping he can pull it off.

Hood will bring the film down, sad to say. The cast is looking splendid though. They have to move fast though. Asa's 14 and Hailee's 15. Once the kids get into a lot of puberty, the poignance of the story is gone, and it's just some teenage space cadets. If there's no innocence, the end of the film is irrelevant.

It sounds like Hailee will play Valentine. I liked Petra more, but Valentine is pretty awesome, and she needs someone young who can play plenty mature.

After foundering for years in development hell, the casting for director Gavin Hood’s (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) adaptation of Ender’s Game is starting to fill up. We’ve previously reported that Asa Butterfield (Hugo) is confirmed to play the title role of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin and both Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List) are in talks to play Petra Arkanian and Mazer Rackham respectively. Harrison Ford has also been mentioned as a prospective Colonel Hyrum Graff. Now, Canadian teen star Brendan Meyer is reported to be playing the small but pivotal role of Stilson in the upcoming adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s award-winning novel. For those of you unfamiliar with the source material, Stilson is a classmate of Ender’s who bullies him and is an essential part of Ender’s path to Battle School. Hit the jump for more.

THR reports that the 17-year-old Meyer will be playing Stilson, an early antagonist of Butterfield’s Ender. Meyer is currently playing the title role of Adam Young in the TV series Mr. Young, where he portrays a child prodigy who is returning to 9th grade as a teacher at the age of 14. He can next be seen in This Means War, which also stars Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine.

Ender’s Game will hit screens on March 15, 2013, but they’ve still got some casting to do. While fans of the novel will appreciate the news of Stilson’s casting, I’m sure that, like me, they’re also anticipating the choices for Peter, Valentine and Bean. Keep up with all of our Ender’s Gamecoverage here. Check out the synopsis for the Ender’s Game novel below (via Amazon):

__________________I was at some diplomatic party once. Got to talking to this princess who told me that when it came to Superman, I was missing the point. She told me, "His real strength lay in his generous spirit and sense of what's fair." - King Faraday
"Heís much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman. Heís Everyman operating on a sciĖfi Paul Bunyan scale." - Grant Morrison

Well, I doubt we'll have naked kids running around for one lol. But a lot of how Ender figures the games out are all done internally through his thought process. That's one of the fun things from the book. I don't know how they'll showcase that on screen.

After confronting extraterrestrials in both "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Cowboys & Aliens," Harrison Ford is ready to take on another alien race, as he has officially joined the cast of OddLot Entertainment's sci-fi adventure tentpole "Ender's Game" along with fellow Oscar nominees Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld.Also onboard are young thesps Aramis Knight, Moises Arias, Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak, Suraj Parthasarathy, Conor Carroll and Khylin Rhambo.
Gavin Hood ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine") is directing from his own script, which is adapted from Orson Scott Card's award-winning novel. Summit Entertainment is co-financing and will release the film in the U.S. on March 15, 2013.
Set in Earth's utopian future, "Ender's Game" stars Asa Butterfield ("Hugo") as the title character, a genius strategist who's recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race.
Ford will play Colonel Hyram Graff, who's in charge of training the young male recruits at an elite military academy. Breslin will play Valentine Wiggin, Ender's older sister, while Steinfeld will play Petra Arkanian, Ender's ally and trusted right hand.
Knight, who previously appeared in Hood's "Rendition," will play Bean, the smallest new recruit; Arias ("Hannah Montana") will play Bonzo, the commander of Salamander Army; Pinchak ("Let Me In") will play Peter Wiggin, Ender's brilliant but tortured older brother; and Parthasarathy will play Alai, the first recruit to befriend Ender.
Carroll ("Away We Go") will play Bernard, the leader of the new recruits who bullies Ender at first; and Rhambo will play Dink, a brainy member of Rat Army.
OddLot, K/O Paper Products and Digital Domain are production partners on "Ender's Game." OddLot's Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough are producing with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman via their K/O Paper Products banner, as well as Lynn Hendee, Robert Chartoff and Card. OddLot's Bill Lischak and K/O's Mandy Safavi will exec produce with Digital Domain's Cliff Plumer and Ed Ulbrich. Sierra/Affinity is handling foreign sales for the pic, which will start production in early 2012 in New Orleans.
Ford, who's no stranger to sci-fi epics, recently signed on to play famed Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey in Legendary Pictures' Jackie Robinson biopic "42."
Steinfeld starred in the Coen brothers' "True Grit" and will soon play Juliet in Carlo Carlei's upcoming adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic romance. Breslin can currently be seen in Garry Marshall's "New Year's Eve" and the indie "Janie Jones."

Itís a good day to be a cast member of The Help. Weíve already reported a couple of high-profile casting stories regarding Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, and now the third Oscar-nominated actress from The Help has booked not one, but two new gigs. Best Actress nominee Viola Davis is set as the lead in Beautiful Creatures, and will take a supporting role in Enderís Game. Directed by Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You), the film is an adaptation of the novel by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia and centers on ďtwo teens who must confront a curse that has haunted the girlís family for generations.Ē Variety reports that Davis will play a librarian ďand friend of the teenage boyís deceased mother who loves the boy like a son and will do whatever in her power to protect him.Ē Beautiful Creatures is the first in a series of novels, so Davis may find herself set in a franchise should the first film do well.

Hit the jump for more, including the addition of Davis to the increasingly impressive ensemble for Enderís Game.

Additionally, Variety reports that Davis has joined the adaptation of Enderís Game. Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)directs and Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, and Harrison Ford round out the cast that seems to get better by the day. Davis will play a military psychologist who is tasked with overseeing the emotional welfare of the young trainees.

__________________I was at some diplomatic party once. Got to talking to this princess who told me that when it came to Superman, I was missing the point. She told me, "His real strength lay in his generous spirit and sense of what's fair." - King Faraday
"Heís much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman. Heís Everyman operating on a sciĖfi Paul Bunyan scale." - Grant Morrison

I read Ender's Game, and man, I kinda got creeped out by Card now, (with naked little kids running around, fighting). That may not be the intent obviously, and I'm not meant to be serious but for a bigot like Card, I wonder if he transferred his taboo subconscious into his writing.

EXCLUSIVE: Nonso Anozie (The Grey) will play Sergeant Dap in the film version of Orson Scott Cardís best-selling novel Enderís Game. The film, which begins production this month in New Orleans, is a futuristic adventure about brilliant young strategist Ender Wiggins, who is drafted by the International Fleet to save the human race. Gavin Hood (Academy Award winner Totsi) will direct from a script he adapted. In addition to Anozie, Stevie Ray Dallimore (Joyful Noise) has been cast as Enderís father John and Andrea Powell (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2) joins as Enderís mother Theresa. The three star opposite Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Asa Butterfield as Ender. Anozie is repped by Meg Mortimer at Principal Entertainment and Megan Willis at the UKís Garricks. Summit Entertainment is co-financing and will release the film domestically March 15, 2013.

After years of starts and stops, a feature film adaptation of Enderís Game is finally on the way. X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood is at the helm, and HugoĎs Asa Butterfield plays the titular boy whoís recruited to develop military strategies in an attempt to prepare for an intergalactic battle. A production blog for the film has just been launched, with an inaugural entry highlighting the big shoes Butterfield has to fill for the long-awaited adaptation. The blog will be run by producer Roberto Orci (Star Trek) and will feature guest updates from the cast and crew.

Iím only a few chapters into Orson Scott Cardís Enderís Game, but Iím enjoying the sci-fi story so far. Hoodís involvement gave me pause, but heís assembled a top-notch cast that includes Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Ben Kingsley. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the book, and head over to the official production blog to check out the first entry. Enderís Game opens on March 15th, 2013.

__________________I was at some diplomatic party once. Got to talking to this princess who told me that when it came to Superman, I was missing the point. She told me, "His real strength lay in his generous spirit and sense of what's fair." - King Faraday
"Heís much more of a working class superhero, which is why we ended the whole book with the image of a laboring Superman. Heís Everyman operating on a sciĖfi Paul Bunyan scale." - Grant Morrison